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Alexander Courage
Alexander "Sandy" Mair Courage Jr. was an Academy Award-nominated, Emmy Award-winning composer, arranger, conductor, and orchestrator who wrote several scores for Star Trek: The Original Series, among them the main title theme. He even made the "whoosh" sound heard as the flies past the screen during the music. (Music Takes Courage documentary) This theme was adapted and used in all of the ''Star Trek'' films and its opening bars can be heard at the beginning of Jerry Goldsmith's theme for Star Trek: The Next Generation. It was Jerry Goldsmith who recommended Courage to Gene Roddenberry. Roddenberry asked Goldsmith to score , but he had to decline due to other commitments. He thus suggested Courage be given the job instead. (Star Trek: The Motion Picture (The Director's Edition) audio commentary) Courage also composed cues for at the request of Goldsmith, who wrote the film's main score. Courage later orchestrated Goldsmith's scores for and . Outside of the Star Trek franchise, Courage's Star Trek Fare can be heard in the films Wayne's World, Muppets from Space, and RV. It was also played in "They Saved Lisa's Brain," a tenth season episode of The Simpsons. Early life and career Alexander Courage was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but moved to New Jersey as a child. He began playing the piano and the horn, and in 1941, he received his degree from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. After graduation, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps and became a band leader at various bases in California and Arizona. Following the war, Courage worked for CBS Radio, where he composed and sometimes conducted such popular programs as The Screen Guild Theater, The Adventures of Sam Spade, and Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar. In 1948, Courage began working at MGM, and over the next twelve years, he orchestrated, conducted, or arranged music scores for such films as Annie Get Your Gun, Show Boat, Singin' in the Rain, The Band Wagon, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Bad Day at Black Rock, Oklahoma!, Guys and Dolls (starring Jean Simmons), Funny Face, Raintree Country (featuring DeForest Kelley), Gigi, The Big Country (also starring Jean Simmons), Porgy and Bess (1959, featuring Brock Peters and Nichelle Nichols), Some Like It Hot (1959), and Bells Are Ringing (featuring Frank Gorshin). Also during the 1950s, Courage composed the scores for a number of films, including the drive-in B-movie Hot Rod Girl (featuring the aforementioned Frank Gorshin) and Arthur Penn's Billy the Kid biographical western, The Left Handed Gun. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, however, he composed primarily for television. Besides Star Trek, he also scored episodes of The Untouchables, Wagon Train, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, and Lost in Space. His theme for the 1967-68 legal drama Judd for the Defense was the only other television theme he composed besides Star Trek. While composing for television, Courage did continue conducting and orchestrating for films, notably the musicals My Fair Lady and Hello, Dolly! and the acclaimed comedies Irma la Douce and The Americanization of Emily. He received his first Academy Award nomination as a composer on the 1964 musical comedy, The Pleasure Seekers. A few years later, he earned a second Academy Award nomination, this time as conductor and orchestrator on the classic 1967 family film Doctor Dolittle. Both nominations were shared with composer . Later life and career In 1973, Courage was nominated for his first Emmy Award, for composing the "Cycle of Peril" episode of the CBS series Medical Center. He was again nominated by the Emmy Awards in 1987 for arranging the music of the TV special, Liberty Weekend. The following year, he received a third Emmy nomination – and his only win – as the principal music arranger of Julie Andrews: The Sound of Christmas. Courage, Jerry Goldsmith and Arthur Morton alternated scoring duties on The Waltons during the show's entire run, from 1972 through 1981. Courage scored over 100 episodes of this series, in addition to five Waltons TV specials – one in 1980, three in 1982, and one in 1993. The latter, A Walton Thanksgiving Reunion, featured Steven Culp in the cast. In 1979, at the request of Jerry Goldsmith, Courage created several "Captain's Log" cues for using a subdued version of his Star Trek Fanfare. http://trekmovie.com/2008/05/28/star-trek-composer-alexander-courage-dead-at-88/ Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Courage continued to collaborate with Goldsmith, orchestrating his scores for films like Legend, Gremlins 2: The New Batch, and Matinee – all featuring Robert Picardo – as well as films such as Basic Instinct, First Knight, Stuart Baird's Executive Decision and U.S. Marshals, Air Force One, L.A. Confidential, Mulan, and The Mummy. Courage succeeded Arthur Morton as primary orchestrator for Goldsmith in the 1990s.http://www.wcbs880.com/-Star-Trek--Theme-Writer-Alexander-Courage-Dies/2278526 Courage also conducted and orchestrated ' scores for films such as the 1971 musical Fiddler on the Roof, 1972's The Poseidon Adventure, 1978's Superman, Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983), Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), Empire of the Sun (1987), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), Hook (1991), and Jurassic Park (1993). Courage also adapted Williams' Superman themes and wrote some original cues for the 1987 sequel Superman IV: The Quest for Peace. In addition to their many film collaborations, Courage wrote many orchestral arrangements for the Boston Pops during Williams' 1980-93 tenure as conductor. After working with Jerry Goldsmith one last time on the 2000 film Hollow Man, Courage retired from show business. In 2005 – the same year Courage's third wife, the former Shirley Pumpelly, died – Courage's health began to decline. Three years later, he died at the Sunrise assisted-living facility in Pacific Palisades, California. He was 88 years old. Star Trek credits * TOS Season 1: ** ** ** ** ** ** (stock) ** (stock) ** (stock) ** (music from "The Cage") ** (music from "The Cage") ** (stock) ** (stock) ** (stock) ** (stock) ** (stock) ** (stock) ** (stock) ** (stock) ** (stock) ** (stock) ** (stock) ** (stock) * TOS Season 2: ** (stock) ** (stock) * TOS Season 3: ** ** ** (stock) ** (stock) ** (stock) ** (stock) ** (stock) *** (stock) *** (stock) *** (stock) * ''Star Trek'' films: ** (Star Trek theme) (additional music composer: "Captain's Log" cues)http://trekmovie.com/2008/05/28/star-trek-composer-alexander-courage-dead-at-88/ ** (Star Trek theme) ** (Star Trek theme) ** (Star Trek theme) ** (Star Trek theme) ** (Star Trek theme) ** (Star Trek theme) ** (orchestrator) (Star Trek theme) ** (orchestrator) (Star Trek theme) ** (Star Trek theme) ** (Star Trek theme) External links * * * Short documentary on the career of Courage on YouTube * Obituary at the Film Music Society de:Alexander Courage es:Alexander Courage fr:Alexander Courage Courage, Alexander